#232 8 J u ly 10
ORGANIC
Org a nic Consum er s A sso ci at ion
Org a nic Consum er s A sso ci at ion
w w w.org a n icconsum e r s.org
UN Says Organic Farming Can Feed World
“Governments and international agencies urgently need to boost ecological
farming techniques to increase food production and save the climate.”
“One year ago, Heads of States at the G20 gathering in Italy committed to mobi-
lizing $22 billion over a period of three years to improve global food security.
This was welcome news, but the most pressing issue regarding reinvestment in
agriculture is not how much, but how.”
“Today, most efforts are made towards large-scale investments in land - includ-
ing many instances of land grabbing - and towards a ‘Green Revolution’ model
to boost food production: improved seeds, chemical fertilizers and machines.
But scant attention has been paid to agroecological methods that have been
shown to improve food production and farmers’ incomes, while at the same
time protecting the soil, water, and climate.” -Olivier De Schutter, UN Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Food presenting the findings of 25 of the world’s most
renowned experts on agroecology at an international meeting held in Brussels,
June 21-22, 2010. www.is.gd/dwWFU
Monsanto’s GE Corn and the Gulf Dead Zone
While the BP oil spill has been labeled the worst environmental catastrophe in
recent US history, a biofuel is contributing to a Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” the
size of New Jersey that scientists say could be every bit as harmful to the gulf.
Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn, about a third of which is made into
ethanol, leaches from Midwest croplands into the Mississippi River and out
into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae blooms. As the algae dies,
it settles to the ocean floor and decays, consuming oxygen and suffocating
marine life.
Known as hypoxia, the oxygen depletion kills shrimp, crabs, worms and any-
thing else that cannot escape. The dead zone has doubled since the 1980s and
is expected this year to grow as large as 8,500 square miles and hug the Gulf
Coast from Alabama to Texas. www.is.gd/dwWAY
Join OCA at the COP 16 Climate Conference
In 1999 and 2003, the OCA helped organize pro-
tests and teach-ins against the World Trade
Organization in Seattle and Cancun. The “Bat-
tle of Seattle”, as it came to be known, and sub-
sequent mobilizations were the coming of age of
the global grassroots. Now you have the oppor-
tunity to join OCA staff on an escorted delega-
tion to the historic teach-ins and rallies for
climate justice and organic agriculture at COP 16
in Cancun, Mexico.
Over 100,000 concerned citizens from North and South America, Europe,
Africa and Asia are expected to converge on Cancun, including leading farm,
food, Fair Trade, climate justice, and anti-GE activists. They’ll attend a wide
range of workshops, forums, and cultural events. Following up on the theme
of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, “Another World is Possi-
ble,” the emphasis in Cancun will be on presenting solutions and alternatives
to the climate crisis.
The OCA delegation, limited to 100 people, will include international experts
on organic agriculture and climate justice. During the week of teach-ins and
protests, Nov. 29 - Dec 10, the OCA delegation will be housed in Cancun. Costs
for a shared double room, meals, seminars, and transport will be $1000 (air-
fare not included). Private rooms are available for an additional $200. Call OCA your donation. organicconsumers.org/donations.cfm
at 218-226-4164 or reserve your place on the delegation online: (select “Cam-
paign Manager”). www.is.gd/cO49x
Written and edited by Alexis Baden-Mayer & Ronnie Cummins
Please post, distribute, & subscribe: organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.cfm
We are Making Positive Change · Our Work Depends on You! Please Donate: www.organicconsumers.org/donations.cfm
BY TES F o o d & C o n su m e r N e w s W e e k ly
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Alert: Reject Dupont & Monsanto
Execs in the Obama Administration
Starting with his choice for USDA Secretary, the pro-
biotech former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, Presi-
dent Obama has let Monsanto, Dupont and the other
pesticide and genetic engineering companies know
they’ll have plenty of friends and supporters within his
administration.
President Obama has taken his team of food and farm-
ing leaders directly from the biotech companies and
their lobbying, research, and philanthropic arms.
▶ Michael Taylor, former Monsanto Vice President,
is now the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods.
▶ Roger Beachy, former director of the Monsanto-
funded Danforth Plant Science Center, is now
the director of the USDA National Institute of
Food and Agriculture.
▶ Islam Siddiqui, Vice President of the Monsanto
and Dupont-funded pesticide-promoting lob-
bying group, CropLife, is now the Agriculture
Negotiator for the US Trade Representative.
▶ Rajiv Shah, former Gates Foundation agricul-
tural-development director served as Obama’s
USDA Under Secretary for Research Education
and Economics and Chief Scientist and is now
head of USAID.
▶ Now, Ramona Romero, corporate counsel to
Dupont, has been nominated by President
Obama to serve as General Counsel for the USDA.
Tell your Senators to reject Ramona Romero, and
President Obama to Get Monsanto and Dupont out
of his Administration: www.is.gd/dwVSC
Toxic Chemical Lobby Video
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families created this wacky
video to galvanize public support for Congressional
action to make sure the products we reach for, sleep on,
and eat from every day aren’t loaded with toxic chemi-
cals. The characters you will meet in the video are car-
toons, but the plot is ripped straight from the headlines.
www.is.gd/dwWL7
OCA Needs Your Help
OCA and our growing network of organic consumers
and farmers understand that we have a positive life-
affirming solution for the global food, health, and cli-
mate crisis: organic food, farming, and ranching. But
to fight Monsanto and Big Food and get out our all-
important message we need your support. Please send
us a tax-deductible donation today and we’ll send you
a free “Millions Against Monsanto” bumper sticker
so you can help spread the word in your community.
Please be sure to put ‘sticker’ in the comments field of